Russia hides statistics on desertion among military
The Supreme Court of Russia has hidden a section of open statistics on sentences passed for crimes against military service, referring to the orders of the Russian Defense Ministry and the FSB.
Source: Russian media outlet Mediazona
Details: Mediazona reports that detailed data on sentences imposed for crimes against military service was removed from the statistics of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of Russia. For example, such crimes include desertion, unauthorised abandonment of a unit, and failure to comply with an order.
In December last year, the news outlet requested information from the Department on the number of sentences handed down before 2014. The agency provided data and noted that they regularly publish more recent statistics on their website.
In January, the publication revealed that the published tables on the site no longer contain detailed data on crimes against military service – this section is omitted.
Mediazona also reports that when comparing the metadata of old and newly downloaded tables, it becomes clear that the new files were edited on 12 December last year.
The publication sent an inquiry to the Judicial Department with a request to explain the disappearance of part of the statistics. In the response, the agency noted that "posting statistical information about the activities of courts and criminal records" takes place, in particular, in accordance with the Order of the Ministry of Defense (a list of 689 items that specify which data should be classified) and the order of the FSB on information that "can be used against the security of the Russian Federation if they are obtained by foreign sources".
Mediazona reports that, according to data published by the department before the removal of the statistics section, it followed that the "most popular" article among crimes committed against military service was unauthorised abandonment of a unit.
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